It is known that various types of pesticides such as insecticides, insect repellents, fungicides, bactericides, herbicides, and plant growth regulators may be formulated into various products for use on crops and ornamental plants, for controlling weeds, insects and the like.
These types of pesticide products may be formulated as liquids, powders or granules. Solvents, emulsifiers, dispersing agents and wetting agents are normally incorporated into such compositions in order to ensure that a uniform pesticide formulation has been prepared.
The successful employment of any pesticide depends upon its proper formulation into a preparation that can be easily diluted with water into ready-to-use mixtures for application onto a targeted pest and/or agricultural substrate with safety to the applicator, animals and plants. The preparation and use of such formulations typically necessitates making them in concentrated form. Thus, the use of auxiliary agents such as solvents, emulsifiers, wetting and dispersing agents are typically required.
Conventionally-used solvents/carriers for pesticides include, among other things, isophorone, methylisobutyl ketone and N-methyl pyrrolidone. These solvents are oftentimes either expensive, difficult to source and/or unattractive due to their inherent toxicity or regulatory status. Consequently, there exists a need in the pesticide industry to find alternatives to the currently used solvents/carrier systems.